Stumping mom

Ben has a school project for Black History Month. He has to study an African-American artist, singer, or sports figure. Ben wants to study an artist so we are going to the High today to find an artist he likes.

As we were discussing what is involved in doing this project Ben asked me, "Are we African-American?"

Ummm. No. Then I was stumped as to what to say next. I didn't want to say, "African-Americans are people whose families came from Africa" because we know people who are from Africa but are not African-American. And I didn't really want to draw attention to skin color as a significant differentiator. So I said nothing.